Greenpeace urges rich countries to spend more money on climate financing
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Chief of environmental group Greenpeace Kumi Naidoo wants rich countries to mobilize more money to help developing countries cope with climate change.
Naidoo, executive director of Greenpeace, said during an exclusive interview with Xinhua on Wednesday, "Our demand is 140 billion per annum because that is what science is telling us is needed to slash emissions and stop further tragedies that we actually face."
If action was not taken immediately, the costs were going to be much more, the environment activist warned.
Naidoo said rich countries mobilized "not millions, not billions, but trillions of dollars" to bail out the banks and bankers during the financial crisis last year, emphasizing that "we need the same kind of political will with regard to financing to developing countries to help them cope with climate change."
"It is not true to say that this kind of resourcing cannot be mobilized, right now the U.S., for example, is spending 30 billion dollars per year just in Afganistan," Naidoo said, stressing that the money put on the table by rich countries was "totally inadequate".
Besides inadequate climate financing, the emissions reduction targets put forward by developed countries are also far too low, according to Naidoo.
The EU has committed to a 20-percent emissions cut by 2020 on the level of 1990, while the U.S. proposed to reduce its emissions by 17 percent compared with 2005.
"The United States is extremely irresponsible when the future of our children and grandchildren is at stake, given the climate catastrophe that we are heading towards," he said.
In contrast to the lack of ambitious emissions cut targets and the scarcity of climate funding from rich countries, Naidoo said developing countries, such as China, India and South Africa, had voluntarily committed to deep cuts in carbon intensity.
China has committed to cutting its carbon intensity per unit of GDP by 40-45 percent by 2020 on the level of 2005.
The pledge of the Chinese government days before the Copenhagen conference gave momentum and impetus at a time when there were a lot of negative things, Naidoo said.
"The movement in China is positive, in the right direction and what the world needs is inspiring examples," he said.
"In China, in every two hours there is a wind turbine being built (and this) is a positive thing," he said, adding if a similar kind of engagement was made throughout the world in the developing countries and developed countries in this clean technology, the worst effects of climate change could be possibly averted.
The Greenpeace chief said there were only 10 days left for the negotiations and non-governmental organizations were doing everything possible to keep pressure on negotiators to deliver "a fair, ambitious and binding treaty" at the end of the meeting.
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